Saturday, October 14, 2006

Montreal photographer François Brunelle is seeking doppelgängers—apparently unrelated people who could pass for twins. He wants to take 200 photos for a possible book and exhibition, and has a form on his website for participants to sign up.

Brunelle has travelled to Britain, France, Switzerland, Spain and Germany to find look-alikes, sending press releases to the media there and hoping for stories, which inevitably turn up new doppelgängers. He made a cold call to Rowan Atkinson's office — in his younger days Brunelle was often told he resembled Mr. Bean, the character made famous by Atkinson — and nearly got thrown out. The media-shy actor allegedly liked the project, but declined to participate.

Brunelle has shot 140 portraits so far. He hopes his quest will result in a book. If it doesn't, he's enjoying the ride. [Link]